Monterey County judge throws out Steve Collins' lawsuit

A Monterey County Superior Court judge has tossed out former county water board member Steve Collins' civil suit alleging that county officials defrauded and defamed him in connection with the failed regional desalination project.

Judge Roger Randall granted the county's motion Friday to dismiss the case and ruled that Collins had failed to show the court enough evidence to establish a probability that he would prevail in his suit.

The county filed the motion to dismiss in July on grounds that it represented a strategic lawsuit against public participation and involved statements by county officials that were protected speech.

County Counsel Charles McKee said the ruling provides justification for the county's actions regarding Collins.

"The ruling is vindication of the position we've taken all along, that (county officials') statements were not defamatory," McKee said. "It's unfortunate all of this had to happen to derail a water solution for the Peninsula, but we're happy with the court ruling that the county was right all along."

Collins, who represented himself, said he anticipated the ruling, and said he was advised that so-called "anti-SLAPP" motions are "routinely upheld." He called the ruling "liberating," and said he had no plans to appeal but vowed to continue pursuing his civil case in federal court. He said he also will assist with any further criminal investigation of the matter.

So far, Collins is the only person facing criminal charges in connection with the regional project, specifically for accepting payment from a private firm for his work on the endeavor. But the state Fair Political Practices Commission is conducting an investigation of Collins and other county officials, including members of the Board of Supervisors.

Last month, after Judge Lydia Villarreal ordered Collins to produce a "written presentation" of the evidence he had promised to deliver, he filed a 118-page declaration that he said showed he had enough evidence to prevail on his lawsuit.

In court on Friday, Collins told Randall the suit was not about free speech but about the county's campaign to discredit him. He argued that he should be given some latitude because he was representing himself, and maintained that much of the evidence supporting his claim against the county was contained in the criminal case filings.

Collins also offered to play a tape of an interview with Curtis Weeks, the former county Water Resources Agency general manager. He said Weeks can be heard admitting that the knew Collins was being paid for work on the regional project, but the judge declined to review the tape. Collins had promised to provide the court with a written opinion from a county-hired law firm that his paid work on the project did not represent a conflict of interest, but he didn't offer it Friday.

Randall took a two-hour recess to review the criminal file, but ultimately was unconvinced.

Collins said the visiting judge clearly didn't take enough time to fully review the criminal file, but McKee said the bottom line was the court ordered Collins to produce evidence rather than supposition and innuendo, and he failed to do so.

Collins filed suit against the county earlier this year for $25 million in damages because he said county officials conspired to make him a scapegoat for the failure of the desal proposal. He said county officials knew he was being paid for working on the project but lied to cover themselves.

He is facing more than 40 criminal charges, including nearly three dozen felonies, alleging he accepted payments he either wasn't entitled to receive or didn't earn. They include felony conflict of interest charges for allegedly having a financial interest in the regional project agreements as a result of being paid more than $160,000 for work he did for project manager RMC Water and Environment while he was a public official.